Living in Peru : your everyday companion

An expedition of local tourists and INC (National Institute of Culture) representatives will hike on Friday to the impressive waterfall recently found in the Amazonas region in northern Peru.

The expedition team, which will depart from Bagua Grande (capital town of the Utcubamba province), includes a topographer, local municipality representatives and a cameraman.

This waterfall is said to be higher than the magnificent 771-meter-high Gocta Waterfall located in Chachapoyas, a mystical province in northern Peru.

INC delegate in Utcubamba, Carlos Jiménez, said there is great expectation among local people to know the results of this expedition.

News source: ANDINA

A spectacular waterfall believed to be among the highest in the country was found in the jungle province of Uctubamba, located in Peru’s Amazonas region, local explorer Obed Cabanillas Silva announced on Tuesday.

This waterfall is said to be higher than the magnificent Gocta Waterfall which is 771 meters (2529 feet) high and located in Chachapoyas, northern Peru.

Adventurers who wish to explore this natural spot should pass by the village of San Antonio and then take a three-hour walk along a gorgeous hiking trail.

Cabanillas mentioned that on the way to the waterfall, explorers will find stone structures which are surrounded by lush vegetation and orchids.

It was reported that locals knew of the existence of this waterfall but never wanted to give any information because they feared the area would be damaged.

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Government authorities in Loreto, Peru's largest and northernmost region, have announced that measures are being and will be taken to protect, care for and preserve the lives of pink dolphins and other mammals in captivity.

It was reported that anyone who had a pink Amazon River dolphin, Inia geoffrensis, or "bufeo colorado” as they are known in Peru, will have 60 days to report to the Regional Production Directorate and explain why the animal is being kept in captivity.

The new regulation will also apply to gray river dolphins and the Amazonian manatee or "vaca marina".

According to an ordinance published in the country's official gazette, not reporting to the regional directorate will result in fines and punishment for breaking the law.

In a report issued by the Regional Production Directorate, the urgent need to protect and conserve the Amazon River dolphins and Amazonian manatees that had been taken into captivity was stressed.

The effort to help these mammals is being supported by Yván Vásquez Valera, the governor of Loreto.

In the last 33 years, a loss of 26 percent of the Cordillera Blanca (White Mountain Range) surface has been registered, due to global warming, the director of the Glaciology Unit of the National Institute of Natural Resources (Inrena) Marco Zapata, reported Tuesday.

He said in 1970, the White Mountain Range surface totaled 723 square kilometers, but in 1997 it was found that it had lost 112 square kilometers, according to research done by Peru’s National Environment Council (Conam).

“Now, Satellite pictures show that in the last 33 years the White Mountain Range surface is about 535 square kilometers, which means that during this period the surface of the mountain lost 188 square kilometers, 26 percent”, he said.

The expert mentioned this is the conclusion resulting from the National Inventory of Glaciers and High Andean Lakes, which will officially be presented in two moths.

This document will show how many glaciers exist at the moment, and how many kilometers and volume they have lost due to global warming.

News source: ANDINA

Peru's Minister of the Environment, Antonio Brack, and the UN Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Peru, Jorge Chediek, will sign an agreement on sustainable management of environmental resources to reduce climate change impact on high Andean micro-basins.

The event will take place today at 16:00 pm (21:00 GMT) at the UNDP headquarters located in the Limean district of Miraflores.

Maria Teresa Nunez Gascon, General Coordinator of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), will also attend today’s meeting.

With this support, the Ministry of the Environment will promote the management of climate change-induced risks in the micro-basins.

It will tackle issues such as soil contamination, glacier melting, reduction of water resources, deforestation and cattle management and impact on health.

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

People across Lima have had the chance to enjoy some sunshine and warmer weather for the past ten days.

While Limeans usually wake up to drizzle and fog around this time of year, there have recently been more pleasant weather conditions.

According to SENAMHI, the country's weather service, residents in metropolitan Lima can expect to have temperatures between 17° and 20° C (62.6 - 68°F) until Wednesday, after which temperatures may begin to drop.

It was reported that sunshine would be seen until today - Tuesday and that temperatures would fluctuate between 17° and 20° C.

On the other hand, weather reports affirmed that Wednesday would be cloudier and temperatures would begin to decline.

Jorge Chira, a meteorologist for SENAMHI explained that signals used to forecast Lima's weather varied frequently, making it difficult to provide forecasts too far into the future.

"Being absolutely sure about what is happening in the coastal region is very difficult in these circumstances because winds vary drastically and that can make a forecast change from one day to another," said Chira.

He did state, however, that there were signs there would be cloudier weather in the middle of the week.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

In statements released on Thursday, Malls Peru announced the start of the construction of a new shopping center in the northern region of La Libertad.

It was reported that Malls Peru is to invest $20 million in the construction of a new shopping center in Trujillo, the capital of La Libertad.

The new shopping center, which has been named Los Jardines Open Plaza, is the fifth of the open plaza shopping centers Malls Peru has invested in.

Los Jardines Open Plaza is to be built on the 25,000 square meter (269,098 square foot) piece of land where Los Jardines Hotel used to be.

It will have a Tottus supermarket, a Sodimac hardware store as well as establishments such as Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP), BBVA Banco Continental, Radio Shack, Lavanderías Pressto and Do It.

The shopping center will also have restaurants such as China Wok and Norky's among others.

Los Jardines Open Plaza will directly employ 1,000 people and indirectly provide jobs for 3,000 more, said the general manager of Malls Peru, Jose Antonio Contreras.

It has been estimated that the shopping center will be built in six months and be inaugurated by the end of this year.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Limeans, who are used to experiencing foggy, humid weather during the winter, can expect to see some sunshine and feel temperatures as high as 21°C (69.8°F) from July 1 - 3, reported the country's national weather service, SENAMHI.

The sky in Lima will be partly cloudy and slowly clear up until midday, at which time residents will see sporadic rays of sunshine, said Raquel Loayza, a meteorologist for SENAMHI.

"It is probable that there will be improvements in weather conditions with more probability of sunshine in Lima. Observing climatology, in previous years we have seen that there has also been sunshine in July," said Loayza.

On the other hand, the meteorologist explained that weather conditions would be returning to normal by this weekend.

Drizzle will begin once again and the temperature will drop back to at least 13.9°C (57°F).

She explained that weather conditions would slowly get worse as this weekend approached.

Furthermore, Loayza affirmed that humidity levels would be between 70 and 75 percent.

Eco Worldly
Levi Novey

Several days ago, I read a story about how Peru’s butterfly exports had increased 43% from January-April of this year. These are the butterflies that are pinned into glass frames for sale as gifts and souvenirs. I wondered if all of these butterflies included those that are exported illegally and those that are endangered. Questions of this kind were on my mind as just several days earlier my family had passed by a street vendor who sold animals illegally.

One of the animals was a baby monkey, caged and frightened. We live in the highlands region of Peru, so the monkey was far from its former home in the rainforest. My wife, who in the past worked as a biologist throughout Peru, told me that she thought this was an endangered monkey. As we walked home, I wished I had brought my camera. This I thought, is a story that needs to be pursued.

Yesterday, I went with my family once again to see the animals sold by the street vendor. This time I took my camera, hoping to take a photo of the monkey. Unfortunately, the monkey had been sold. My wife had told me that it was probably a Brown capuchin monkey (Cebus apella). Despite not finding the monkey, the photos I did get were probably even better.

Just as we arrived, a man in a car pulled up and inquired about one of the larger birds that was being sold. He ended up buying the bird, probably a Scarlet-fronted parakeet (Aratinga wagleri), for 33 nuevo soles (approximately $11 American). Watching the vendor get the bird out of the cage was painful. The stressed bird pecked at the man’s hand as much as he could. Once the vendor succeeded in grabbing the bird, he put it in a brown paper bag with a piece of corn. I told my wife, “At least he gave it something to eat.” She then told me, “Those type of birds don’t eat corn though, they eat fruit.”

What I Discovered in My Research about Peru’s Illegal Wildlife Trade

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